Clients seeking regional departures and shoulder season value, says Advantage

Meanwhile, easyJet in May announced it would open its 10th UK base – Southend – next summer, while efforts to reopen Doncaster Sheffield airport are under way, a former Tui base.

“They capture a different market that perhaps was only travelling on the low-cost that was available from that airport previously,” Cookes explained.

However, despite resurgent demand for regional departures, Cooks said airlines and operators were continuing to add capacity and new destinations at their main bases.

"They’re all looking at how they can diversify and pick up different types of passengers,” she said.

Shoulder season and new destinations

According to the survey, nearly eight in 10 Advantage members (79%) said they have noticed more requests from clients for holidays during shoulder seasons as people seek to avoid extreme summer temperatures, beat the crowds and get better deals.

"Some people are actually thinking whether they want to go away when it’s really hot,” explained Advantage chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said. “Customers are starting to think whether they should travel out of season and outside of the school holidays.”

The emergence of a shoulder season market has already impacted bookings; Advantage said bookings for October half-term were up by 15% year-on-year, while spend for the same period was up by 25%.

"We’re already seeing really strong volumes for October,” Cookes continued. “When you break that down, it could be the shoulder season, it could be the attractive pricing, it could be the capacity increased, or it could be all of those things tied together."

As for destinations, more than a quarter of Advantage members (27%) said they have noticed customers asking for lesser-known destinations – including the Greek island of Paros and Asturias in northern Spain – as a way to avoid more heavily touristed hotspots.

Members, though, said they did not believe the demand for different destinations was linked to recent overtourism protests seen in many busy locations – including Barcelona and Spain’s islands.

“We haven’t seen the protests and demonstrations against local political issues, manifesting as overtourism debates, impact holiday sales, and it’s a really positive sign our travel agency partners are seeing people look for lesser-known destinations,” said Lo Bue-Said.

“This desire for lesser-known destinations is a great opportunity for our travel agency partners to highlight all the incredible destinations that are available to travellers at great prices.”